Mop



Aug. 5, 1941. T. J. THOMAS 2,251,334

MOP

Filed April 21, 1938 2 Sh'epts-Sheef. 1

INVEN'i'OR 77-1oms J THO/14S ATTORN EYS 1941. T. J. THOMAS 2,251,384

MOP

Filed April 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvsmon Tl-(OMAS d 771aMA-s AITTORNEYS atented Aug. 5, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOP Ohio

Application April 21, 1938, Serial No. 203,304

Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in mops, and more particularly to improvements in so-called self-wringing wet mops, that is, mops provided with means by which the operator may wring out the mop.

Self-wringing mops employing a divided head which permits the mopping material to be compressed between the head portions are wellknown to the art. Such mops have not proved entirely satisfactory however, since in order to insure that all portions of the mopping surface were fully and equally compressed, it was necessary, heretofore, to space the divided head portions of the mop. This resulted in a mop which was comparatively large and unwieldly for the amount of mopping surface presented. If a continuous mopping surface were used with the divided head, the mopping material could not be wrung out satisfactorily, since the portion of the mopping material near the hinge joining the divided head was pinched and the portions away from the hinge were subjected to substantially no compression.

It is the object of this invention to provide a self-wringing mop presenting a continuous mopping surface, which may be satisfactorily wrung out, the mopping material being subjected to a full and equal compression throughout.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mop-wringing means which is simple, sturdy, inexpensive, and positive in its action.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a mop-wringing means which, while compact, will provide a large mechanical advantage and enable the operator to subject the mopping material to great compression with a minimum of effort. It is a further object of the invention to provide a mop-wringing means which will allow the mophandle to be angularly adjustable.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a means for removably securing the mopping material to the mopping head. Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent in the specification and appended claims.

Like reference characters represent like parts in the following description and in the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of this invention, showing the mop in the normal position;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, but showing the mop in the actuate position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom of the mop head with the mopping material removed;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing a modification of this invention; and

Fig. 5 is also a cross-section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing a further modification of this invention.

In the drawings, the mop head I is comprised of two plates 3 and 4 joined together and normally maintained in the same plane by an ofi'set spring hinge 5. The mop head plates may be perforated by holes 6, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 in order to allow water to pass therethrough, but these perforations may be conveniently omitted, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Extending around the outside edges of plate 3 is a depending flange 1 and extending around the outside edges of plate 4 is 9. depending flange 8. Rubber bumper strips 9 and It] may be attached to the flanges I and 8, respectively, by countersunk rivets or any other suitable means.

The mopping material is comprised preferably of two blocks of cellulose sponge, though blocks of sponge rubber, natural sponge, or other highly absorbent and. compressible material may be used. The block of sponge ll completely covers the underside of the plate 3 and extends a considerable distance below the flange I. Similarly, the block of sponge l2 completely covers the underside of plate 4 and extends below the flange 8 substantially the same distance that the block ll extends below the flange 1. The two blocks of sponge, thereby, normally present a continuous mopping surface.

The hinged plates '3 and 4 are shown as being rectangular, but they may be made in any convenient shapes which will be symmetrical about the parting line l3 formed by the abutting edges of the plates 3 and 4. The offset spring hinge 5 is attached to the underside of the plates 3 and 4 astride the parting line H3. The hinge pin I4 is parallel to the parting line [3 and the hinge plates l5 and [6 are secured to the plates 3 and 4, respectively, by rivets or other suitable securing means. The hinge pin [4 preferably extends beyond the hinge plates I5 and I6 and carries the torsion springs ll and 18, which engage the plates 3 and 4 and tend to maintain the plates in their abutting and coplanar position. The hinge pin I 4 is ofiset below the plates 3 and 4 a distance greater than the depth of the depending flanges 1 and 8 and substantially equal to the thickness to which the sponges should be compressed to wring them out properly.

The mop handle may be adjustably mounted on the mop head I, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Two U brackets, each having a pair of upstanding wing members 2| and 22 and 23 and 24, respectively, are secured adjacent each other on plate 4 adjacent the partin line I3. The wing members 22 and 23 are drilled to receive a bolt 25 and a wing nut 26. A pivot flange 21 of a socket member 28 pivots upon the bolt 25 between the wing members 22 and 23. The socket member 28 receives the mop handle 20, which is secured therein by a pin 29. The handle 20 may thereby be secured at a convenient angle to the mop head I by tightening the wing nut 26 after the desired angle of the handle to the head has been obtained. The pivot flange 2'! may be scored or corrugated to insure a proper frictional grip between the pivot flange and the wing members 22 and 23.

The linkage employed to operate the mop head to wring out the mop comprises a pair of bellcrank members 3| and 32. The bell-crank 32 comprises a lever arm 34 and an arcuate arm 36 integral therewith, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The bell-crank 32 is pivotably secured to the wing member 24 by the pivot pin 38. The bell-crank 3| is of a similar configuration, having a lever arm 33 and an arcuate arm 35, and is pivotably secured to the wing 2| by the pivot pin 31, the pivot pins 31 and 38 being co-axial. The arcuate arms and 36 are spaced and braced midway of their length by a cross-brace 39, and the free ends of the arcuate arms carry a roller pin 40, which extends laterally of the arcuate arms. The ends of the roller pin carry the rollers 4| and 42, which engage the plate 3. The roller pin 40 may also carry a spacer 43 between the arcuate arms 35 and 36.

The end portions of the lever arms 33 and 34 are bent toward each other at right angles to the parallel planes of the bell-cranks 3| and 32 and are provided with upstanding ends which receive a pivot pin 44. The pivot pin 44 pivotably secures one end of a connecting link 45 between the ends of the lever arms 33 and 34. The other end of the connecting link 45 is pivotably connected to the sleeve 46, which is slidably mounted on the handle 20.

The operation of a mop constructed according to this invention is as follows: When the operator wishes to wring out the mop, the operator grasps the handle 28 in one hand and with the other hand pushes down on the sleeve 46, which slides down the handle. As the sleeve 46 slides down the handle, the connecting link 45 causes the bell-cranks 3| and 32 to pivot about their coaxial pivot pins, depressing the plate 3 which pivots about the hinge pin l4. The rollers 4| and 42 traverse the face of the plate 3 as it pivots about the hinge pin l4, first toward the parting line |3 and then, after the plate 3 has pivoted more than 90, toward the outside edge until, after the plate 3 has been rotated approximately 180, the rollers 4| and 42 engage the plate 3 at the point of maximum leverage about the hinge pin M, as shown in Fig. 2. This mechanical advantage is further increased by the leverage afforded by the bell-cranks 3| and 32. Thus, the operator may subject the sponge blocks I and I2 to a tremendous pressure by the application of a small force on the sleeve 46.

When the plate 3 has been pivoted 180, it will be parallel to plate 4, but spaced therefrom a distance twice the amount of offset of the hinge pin 4. Because the plates 3 and 4 are parallel to each other when in the position shown in Fig. 2, the sponges H and I2 will be fully and evenly compressed between the plates and the soiled liquid absorbed by them will be satisfactorily expressed therefrom. Because the sponge blocks separate along the parting line |3 as the plate 3 is pivoted, there will be no tendency for the sponges to be pinched adjacent the hinge 5. To return the plates to their normal co-planar position after the sponges are wrung out, the operator simply releases the sleeve 46 and the spring hinge 5 snaps the plates back to the normal position.

It is apparent from Fig. 1 that the upward movement of the adjustable mop handle I is lim ited by the ends of the lever arms 33 and 34 and that the downward movement is limited by the plate 4. The handle may be set at any position between these limits without affecting the operation of the mop-wringing linkage, the adjustment in the angle of the mop handle simply changing the normal position of the sleeve 46 on the handle 2|] and varying the angle of the connecting link to the handle 20.

It may be desirable, however, to have the handle 20 fixed with respect to the mop head I, as shown in Fig. 4. This may be accomplished by substituting for the pair of U brackets a single and wider U bracket having an upstanding central member 50. This central member 50 terminates in a pair of straps 5| which substantially encircle the end of the handle 20. A wing nut and bolt 53 passes through the ends of the straps 5|, and by tightening the wing nut and bolt, the handle 20 is secured at a fixed angle to the mop head I. When the angularity of the handle is fixed, as in Fig. 4, it may be desirable to form the arcuate arms and the lever arms of the bellcranks separately and then to rivet them together to form an integral bell-crank. Thus, in Fig. 4, the arcuate arm 35a is formed separately from the lever arm 34a, the two being secured together as an integral bell-crank by the rivet and the pivot pin 38a. The angularity between the arcuate arm 36a and the lever arm 34a is preferably such that, with the roller 42 engaging the plate 3 in the normal position, the end of the lever arm 34a bears against the handle 20. By so constructing the bell-crank arms, the mopwringing linkage is maintained in a fixed position while the mop is in use and rattling and jarring of the linkage is prevented.

Cellulose sponge is the preferred mopping material to be used for the sponge blocks in this invention, not only because it apparently has good wearing qualities, but also because blocks of cellulose sponge may be Very satisfactorily secured to the plates 3 and 4 by means of waterproof :cellulose adhesives, several types of which are well known to the art. It may be desirable, however, to provide mops made according to the invention with easily replaceable sponge blocks, as is illustrated in Fig. 5. Thin sponge plates 1|, cut to the size of the underneath area of plates 3 and 4, are held against the plates to the plates 3 and 4 by small machine screws 13 extending through the plates 3 and 4 and tapped into the sponge plates II.

This invention has been disclosed in an embodiment intended for use primarily as a floor mop, but it may be applied to many other embodiments, as, for example, window mops and Squeegees, and like applications. It is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited, either in whole or in part, to the specific embodiments and modifications disclosed, but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a mop head comprised of a pair of abutting co-planar plates and an oifset spring hinge joining said plates, abutting sponge blocks secured to each of said plates, a mop handle adjustably mounted on one of said plates, a pair of bell crank members also pivotably mounted on said plate, each of said bell crank members being comprised of a lever arm and an arcuate arm, rollers carried by said arcuate arms and engaging :the other of said plates, a sleeve slidably mounted on said handle, and a link connecting said sleeve to said lever arms, whereby the actuation of said sleeve causes the second of said plates to pivot about the first of said plates on said hinge and assume a position parallel to but spaced from said first plate to compress said sponge blocks fully and equally throughout.

2. In a device of the class described, a mop ,head comprised of a pair of normally substantially co-planar plates and an offset hinge joining said plates, said hinge being offset below the plane of the lower faces of the normally coplanar plates, sponge blocks secured to said plates, a handle mounted on one of said plates, a bell crank member pivotably mounted on said first plate, one arm of said bell crank having an end operable upon and movable across the second of said plates, a sleeve slidably mounted on said handle and connected to the other arm of said bell crank, the actuation of said sleeve causing the second of said plates to pivot about the first of said plates on said ofiset hinge and compress said sponge blocks between said plates.

3. In a device of the class described, a pair of normally substantially co-planar mop head plates, an offset hinge joining said plates, said hinge being offset below the plane of the lower faces of the normally co-planar plates, a pair of sponge blocks having abutting edges secured to said plates, a bell crank pivotably mounted on one of said plates and having an end operable upon and movable across the other of said plates, and means for actuating said bell crank to cause the second of said plates to pivot about the first of said plates on said hinge and to assume a position parallel to and spaced from said first plate, said sponge blocks being compressed thereby between said plates.

4. In a device of the class described, a mop head comprising a pair of co-planar plates, a pair of hell crank members pivotably mounted on one of said plates, said bell crank members engaging the other of said plates, a handle socket also pivotably mounted on said first plate, a mop handle secured in said handle pocket, a sleeve slidably mounted on said handle, a link pivotably connected to said bell crank members and pivotably connected to said sleeve, whereby said handle may be angularly adjusted with respect to said mop head independent of said bell crank, connecting link, and sleeve. v

5. In a device of the class described, a'mop head comprising two hinged plates, a spring adapted to maintain said plates normally coplanar, bell crank members pivotably mounted on one of said plates, said bell crank members each comprising an arcuate arm engaging the other of said plates and a lever arm, a mop handle fixedly mounted on the first of said plates at such an angle that said handle normally engages the lever arms of said bell crank members whereby said bell crank members are normally resiliently supported between said mop handle and said second plate.

THOMAS J. THOMAs. 

